Pomona

A West Covina woman was convicted Tuesday in the murder-for-hire slaying of her husband, and the trial of her son, accused of shotgunning his stepfather for pay, is expected to resume this week.

A Pomona Superior Court jury convicted Sharon Lavonne Alvarez, 39, of first-degree murder after six hours of deliberation, ending a two-week trial. Her son, Donald Eugene Hoyt, 22, was being tried simultaneously with his mother before Judge Glenn Pfau, but illness prevented him from being present in court this week, according to court personnel.

Pfau set sentencing of Alvarez for Oct. 11.

The mother and son were arrested last August after Celso Alvarez, 55, was found dead of several gunshot wounds in his backyard. Deputy Dist. Atty. John Hayes maintained in court that the woman plotted with her son to shut off power to the house and lure Alvarez outside to check what he thought was a faulty fuse box. Hoyt, Hayes told the court, lay in wait for his stepfather, shot him and fled.